Burr Gore Steers (born October 8, 1965) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. His films include '' Igby Goes Down'' (2002) and '' 17 Again'' (2009). He is a nephew of writer

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal ( ; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his acerbic epigrammatic wit. His novels and essays interrogated the Social norm, social and sexual ...

Early life and education

Steers was born in Washington, D.C. His father, Newton Ivan Steers, Jr. (1917–1993), was a businessman and politician who briefly served as a Republican congressman from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. Through his mother, Nina Gore Auchincloss (born 1937), he is a grandson of stockbroker and lawyer Hugh D. Auchincloss, a cousin of

Louis Auchincloss Louis Stanton Auchincloss (; September 27, 1917 – January 26, 2010)Holcomb B. Noble and Charles McGrath''The New York Times''. Retrieved on January 27, 2010. was an American lawyer, novelist, historian, and essayist. He is best known as a novel ...

. Nina is also the stepsister of

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...

and younger half-sister of the writer

. Steers is a relative of vice president

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...

, the third

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

. Steers's great-grandfather Thomas Gore served as Oklahoma's first Democratic senator, from 1907 until 1921 and from 1931 until 1937, while his great-great-grandfather Oliver Burr Jennings was a founder of

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...

. Steers's godfather was former Virginia Senator

John Warner John William Warner III (February 18, 1927 – May 25, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term United States Republican Party, Republican United Stat ...

. His brother Hugh Auchincloss Steers (1963–1995) was an American figurative painter whose later works often focused on

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

as a theme. He has another brother, Ivan Steers, and five stepsiblings from his mother's second marriage to editor Michael Whitney Straight.*Nigel West and Oleg Tsarev, ''The Crown Jewels: The British Secrets at the Heart of the KGB Archives'' (London: HarperCollins, 1998; New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), pg., 130. Steers grew up living in Bethesda, Maryland and Georgetown, Washington, D.C., where he attended St. Albans School. Steers was expelled from both the

Hotchkiss School The Hotchkiss School is a private college-preparatory day and boarding school in Lakeville, Connecticut. It educates approximately 600 students in grades 9–12, plus postgraduates. Founded in 1891, it was one of the first English-style boardi ...

and Culver Military Academy. He eventually earned his

GED Ged or GED may refer to: Places * Ged, Louisiana, an unincorporated community in the United States * Ged, a village in Bichiwara Tehsil, Dungarpur District, Rajasthan, India * Delaware Coastal Airport, in Delaware, US, callsign GED People * Ged B ...

and attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

.Film; A Family's Legacy: Pain and Humor (and a Movie)
, ''New York Times'', September 15, 2002.

Career

Steers has had minor roles in a few of

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

's films, playing Roger (or "Flock of Seagulls") in ''

Pulp Fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...

'' and providing one of the radio voices in ''

Reservoir Dogs ''Reservoir Dogs'' is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length directorial debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarant ...

''. He also has appeared in '' The Last Days of Disco'', '' Fix'' and '' Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid''. He wrote and directed '' Igby Goes Down'' in 2002, a

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

film that starred

Kieran Culkin Kieran Kyle Culkin (born September 30, 1982) is an American actor. Known for portraying distasteful yet sympathetic characters across stage and screen, List of awards and nominations received by Kieran Culkin, his accolades include an Academy A ...

and

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actor. With a career spanning over five decades, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...

. Steers also was the screenwriter of the film '' How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days'', which starred

Kate Hudson Kate Garry Hudson (born April 19, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Born to singer Bill Hudson (singer), Bill Hudson and actress Goldie Hawn, Hudson made her film debut in the 1998 drama ''Desert Blue'', which was followed by supporting ...

and

Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He achieved his breakthrough with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first su ...

. He has directed episodes of the television series ''

Weeds A weed is an unwanted plant of any species. Weed or weeds may also refer to: Places * Weed, Arkansas, an unincorporated community in the United States * Weed, California, a city in the United States * Weed, Kentucky, an unincorporated communit ...

'', '' The L Word'', ''

Big Love ''Big Love'' is an American drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer that aired on HBO from 2006 to 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a Mormon fundamentalism, fundamentalist Mor ...

'', and '' The New Normal''. Steers also directed the 2009 teen comedy film, '' 17 Again'' starring

Zac Efron Zachary David Alexander Efron (; born October 18, 1987) is an American actor. Efron began acting professionally in the early 2000s and rose to prominence as a teen idol for his leading role as Troy Bolton in the ''High School Musical'' film ...

. In 2010 Steers directed the drama '' Charlie St. Cloud'', also starring Efron. Also in 2010, there was media coverage for Steers having been hired to direct an epic film about the early life of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

to be based on the novels by

Conn Iggulden Connor Iggulden (; born ) is a British author who writes historical fiction, most notably the ''Emperor'' and ''Conqueror'' series. He also co-authored '' The Dangerous Book for Boys'' with his brother Hal. In 2007, Iggulden became the first pe ...

as adapted from the first two novels of Iggulden's series, '' The Gates of Rome'' and '' The Death of Kings'', and covering the years from 92 BC to 71 BC. Exclusive Media Group hired Steers after having the adaptation written by William Broyles and Stephen Harrigan. Steers directed the 2016

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of the parody novel, '' Pride and Prejudice and Zombies''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steers, Burr 1965 births Living people St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) alumni Hotchkiss School alumni Auchincloss family Culver Academies alumni Male actors from Washington, D.C. New York University alumni American male screenwriters English-language film directors People from Bethesda, Maryland Film directors from Maryland Screenwriters from Connecticut Screenwriters from Maryland Screenwriters from Washington, D.C. People from Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)